Mermaid Duplicate Animatronics Photo

[alissafalco]

It's a Mirror image to DCA's Version....

UGH!

 

[joeyq]

I am more of just a reader than a commenter. I come onto this website almost every day and i have been looking up other sites as well. Although i don't think Florida is getting a BETTER version of the ride ( but i can hope ) I can 100% say that that picture is from the DCA version of the ride. When i was following the construction of the DCA project i found that exact picture of the backstage... I could be wrong but i know i have seen that picture a while ago

 

[alissafalco]

I am more of just a reader than a commenter. I come onto this website almost every day and i have been looking up other sites as well. Although i don't think Florida is getting a BETTER version of the ride ( but i can hope ) I can 100% say that that picture is from the DCA version of the ride. When i was following the construction of the DCA project i found that exact picture of the backstage... I could be wrong but i know i have seen that picture a while ago

We know its DL. He's talking about DL's ride, we are just hoping WDW isnt the same

 

[Skyway]

Correct me if I'm wrong...but I believe the OP's photo shows 2 duplicates of the finale scene. One for DCA, the other for MK.

(The other appearances of the turtle at DCA are positioned on different rock formations. Since the turtle and lobsters only appear mounted together at the finale, this appears to the duplicate made for WDW.)

In other words, this photo seems to prove that the MK finale WILL be identical to DCA.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

I am more of just a reader than a commenter. I come onto this website almost every day and i have been looking up other sites as well. Although i don't think Florida is getting a BETTER version of the ride ( but i can hope ) I can 100% say that that picture is from the DCA version of the ride. When i was following the construction of the DCA project i found that exact picture of the backstage... I could be wrong but i know i have seen that picture a while ago

Correct, the picture is from summer of 2010 . . . two years ago. Did WDI or Garner Holt build duplicates as the knew that MK would get a Mermaid ride?

When the Haunted Mansion was built in Disneyland (which opened in 1969), they also made duplicates of everything for MK's mansion which opened in 1971. Maybe the same foresight was involved with Mermaid?

Or were the Turtle and lobster "rocks" (which I guess hide animatronic hardware) redecorated and placed elsewhere in DCA's Mermaid? Obviously, there are a lot of dancing turtles/lobster/starfish inside of Mermaid in DCA, I am inclined to believe that these figures were all used for DCA's version of the ride as the rock the turtle dances on looks like the same rock used in the finale, only "re-decorated" with spinning starfish and barnacles.

On the official Disney blog, somebody asked about differences between the two rides and the official Disney moderator confirmed that there were some differences, but didn't know exactly what they were. I am assuming she was talking about the inside of the rides as obviously the queues are different.

Quote: "I’ve been told by WDI that there will be slight differences. What those differences are, I’m not sure yet." July 12th, 2011. Jennifer Fickley.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...-of-the-little-mermaid-at-magic-kingdom-park/

This was a year ago . . . and "slight differences" could simply be a way that WDI admits there are upgrades, without detracting from DCA's version, after all, they won't say that "MK's Mermaid is a whole lot better", also the Disney moderator could be filtering certain pieces of information to remove disparaging info about DCA's lackluster Mermaid ride. I would guess that stuff not connected to the ride track could be easily adjusted without much fuss, important things such as unfinished scenes, paper-cut outs and the different screen Ariel's . . .

After all, months after this Jennifer Fickley quote, WDI tried to "fix" Ariel's hair and got the footage of Ariel redone to look more like 2-D. Supposedly, Ariel's soft serve hair costed millions . . . there must have been some *very* negative reactions from fans. DCA's version is so-so, it sure doesn't have great re-rideability like Pirates or Haunted Mansion. If they went all out on ALL the scenes then it would. I think that maybe five years from now, both attractions will go down for massive upgrades, at least in DCA's case, it is hard to believe that Imagineering would be happy with the unfinished scenes.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Correct me if I'm wrong...but I believe the OP's photo shows 2 duplicates of the finale scene. One for DCA, the other for MK.

(The other appearances of the turtle at DCA are positioned on different rock formations. Since the turtle and lobsters only appear mounted together at the finale, this appears to the duplicate made for WDW.)

In other words, this photo seems to prove that the MK finale WILL be identical to DCA.

The finale scene re-uses plastic fish found swimming towards the "Under the Sea" scene at DCA's Mermaid (they are painted different colors though some are the same colors, they ALL have the same exact looks on their faces), as well as re-using dancing turtles, lobsters, twirling starfish and newts playing flutes. The animatronics are duplicates, the only question is whether the rocks are actually duplicates . . . make sense that they would be as rocks are less noticeable as duplicates than characters.

So I don't believe this is evidence that the two rides will be identical. In fact, given that Mermaid at DCA has ten minute wait times, and it basically a walk-on during much of the day as tons of empty clam shells cycle through un-filled, I would guess that WDI would take the opportunity to tweak the MK's Mermaid, or perhaps TDO wanted an upgraded Mermaid as they are going up against Potterland?

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

We know its DL. He's talking about DL's ride, we are just hoping WDW isnt the same

I would figure that at the very least they would fix the rotating "fish mobiles" as the big black bars look bad, heck, you can see where the fish were attached to the bar! I'm no structural engineer, but couldn't they have at least connected the fish to these big bars by using smaller bars that come up out of their heads? You can easily see the sides of the fish where the big black bar is attached!

 

[unkadug]

I would figure that at the very least they would fix the rotating "fish mobiles" as the big black bars look bad, heck, you can see where the fish were attached to the bar! I'm no structural engineer, but couldn't they have at least connected the fish to these big bars by using smaller bars that come up out of their heads? You can easily see the sides of the fish where the big black bar is attached!

I've got bigger fish to fry.


wakka wakka

 

[Patricia Melton]

You know what? When I see the same turtle or whatever in different places, I just think it's the same turtle who is following the story along and dancing. These turtles and fish are in multiple scenes because they have been moving from scene to scene the way the guests have been.

 

[Magenta Panther]

I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed when I saw a video of DCA's Mermaid ride. The ride seems to start out well - I really liked the immersive, going-under-water effect at the beginning - but then came that lame-o soft-serve hair (thank goodness it was fixed - who on earth thought that would work in the first place?) the plastic-y look of the ride, and the extremely underwhelming "Under the Sea" scene...tacky!!! It looked bargain-basement-Disney. Even Peter Pan, which is quite old, has a better layout and better ambience than this brand new Mermaid. Why on earth did the suits decide to cut back on what should have been, could have been a great new E-ticket ride? Did they think people wouldn't notice? That they wouldn't care because they lluuuuuuvv the Little Mermaid so much?

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed when I saw a video of DCA's Mermaid ride. The ride seems to start out well - I really liked the immersive, going-under-water effect at the beginning - but then came that lame-o soft-serve hair (thank goodness it was fixed - who on earth thought that would work in the first place?) the plastic-y look of the ride, and the extremely underwhelming "Under the Sea" scene...tacky!!! It looked bargain-basement-Disney. Even Peter Pan, which is quite old, has a better layout and better ambience than this brand new Mermaid. Why on earth did the suits decide to cut back on what should have been, could have been a great new E-ticket ride? Did they think people wouldn't notice? That they wouldn't care because they lluuuuuuvv the Little Mermaid so much?

I also think that Peter Pan and most classic Disney rides in Fantasyland are just laid out better, and you really zoom through a lot of great scenes (flying to Neverland over London is always great even though it isn't in a huge room), whereas in Mermaid everything looks "plasticky" as the ride doesn't really use dark, i.e. UV lights, for the classic dark ride effect which makes scenes look larger/more magical. Plus, the omnimovers are all squished together, I feel like I'm not experiencing an adventure myself, but that I'm at a musical or something.

I don't think they needed to use dark lights for the whole ride, but you sure don't feel you're under the ocean with the black background that has a greenish haze that looks like something out of some zombie movie. I would expect that blue LED lights and tones were predominate for such an attraction, which would add a dark ride effect, rather than the red, yellow, green stage lighting used for the "Under the Sea" scene which I agree looks very tacky.

Also, omnimovers work much better in the Haunted Mansion as the lights are much lowers and you're not really aware much of the other passengers. Peter Pan is a great ride in part because it is a personal experience for you and everybody else in your party as you feel like you're the only ones in that Pirate boat zooming over Neverland.

I think that back in the day when classic dark rides were made, and when Tony Baxter re-did Fantasyland, they really paid attention to what the guest was seeing and how everything fit together.

Mermaid is so-cookie cutter in that they literally took scenes directly from the film and recreated them, and for other scenes they just used screens and cardboard cut-outs, without much thought to the fact that a lot of the stuff looks very cheaply made and that the ride doesn't flow well at all, even though all of it is just recreations of memorable scenes from the film.

Mermaid is less of an attraction, and more of an exhibition were you get a close look at some Ariel and Ursula animatronics, and spinning starfish, but don't feel like you've had an adventure or anything.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Why on earth did the suits decide to cut back on what should have been, could have been a great new E-ticket ride? Did they think people wouldn't notice? That they wouldn't care because they lluuuuuuvv the Little Mermaid so much?

100% Agree, why not a Mermaid E-Ticket?

Disney really spent a lot of time plugging the ride, talking about the "Under the Sea" scene as being the high point of the ride, when I think the best part is Ariel's Grotto at the beginning, the only part that looks like it is under water, IMHO. I think its a red flag when Disney puts out "behind the scenes" video of "Imagineers" talking about how marvelous the ride is, and how amazing the effects are . . . really trying to cram it down guests' throat that the ride is fantastic when it was really done cheaply.

When I first saw the "Under the Sea" scene I was like, really?! The show-building is big, but there isn't that much in there, maybe one reason why they counted the spinning starfish as being animatronics, LOL.

 

[unkadug]

It's a typical "C" ticket Fantasyland attraction. It's fine for what it is.

Not every attraction SHOULD be an "E" ticket. Why do people always whine when something is built that's not a block buster.

Disney needs more attractions to accommodate the crowds. So they build them and then people gripe and complain.

It is what it is... and no amount of kvetching will change that fact.

 

[RSoxNo1]

It's a typical "C" ticket Fantasyland attraction. It's fine for what it is.

Not every attraction SHOULD be an "E" ticket. Why do people always whine when something is built that's not a block buster.

Disney needs more attractions to accommodate the crowds. So they build them and then people gripe and complain.

It is what it is... and no amount of kvetching will change that fact.

We're arguing semantics here, but I'd consider Mermaid a weaker D, but still much better than Pan, Pooh or Snow White's Scary Adventures (which I would consider C's).

 

[unkadug]

We're arguing semantics here, but I'd consider Mermaid a weaker D, but still much better than Pan, Pooh or Snow White's Scary Adventures (which I would consider C's).

I'll give you that!

 

[JustInTime]

Splash Mountain has more than one Br'er rabbit, Br'er Fox, Br'er bear, but they look different in different scenes, and are integral to telling the story.

Mermaid also has different "Ariel's" and a single Ursula (if you don't count the paper cut-out), and two Prince Erics, which are posed differently for the different scenes, so everything is OK with the main characters, (ignoring the cut-out Ursula and the three computer screen Ariel's)

BUT, Mermaid's final scene used animatronic fish, turtles, newts, and other critters doing the exact same dance as from the Under the Sea scene, and it doesn't look good with the wedding music, IMHO. It is obviously a way to save money by building a whole lot of dancing lobsters, turtles, newts and to use the *exact* same programing/movements. Of course, with the twisty turtles, all they do it twist so there is no programing really.

PLUS, the some of the similar characters in Splash look slightly different from each other, and are "programmed" differently for different scenes in the ride, as far as I remember. I never rode Splash Mountain that realized that some of the critters were duplicates, though obviously within a scene you can have several different frogs, on Mermaid it is pretty obvious.

Splash has a lot more details in the scenes, plus there are a whole plethora of characters, Mermaid seems to just recycle the same ones again and again.

Next time you ride splash, notice the repeat birds, turtles and frogs.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Next time you ride splash, notice the repeat birds, turtles and frogs.

I honestly noticed Mermaid's repeat figures, which are acting out a different scene INAPROPRIATELY in the finale, IMHO, the second time I rode. Splash doesn't duplicate scenes like that, and oh—Splash is a massive E-Ticket thrill ride, maybe I got water in my eyes, but at least it doesn't look cheap!

Mermaid doesn't have much in it, this is why the ride goes so slow, and why many scenes are "boring" because that's all it has, oh, and the final couple scenes are half-finished. Can't say this about Splash, a clear E-Ticket ride.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

We're arguing semantics here, but I'd consider Mermaid a weaker D, but still much better than Pan, Pooh or Snow White's Scary Adventures (which I would consider C's).

Have you actually ridden Mermaid? I love Peter Pan, MK's Pooh, and Snow White (thank goodness its still in Disneyland), . . . I feel nothing for Mermaid. They built a couple high-tech animatronics, but there are a lot of unfinished scenes and cheap plastic fish, and the ride lacks that "magic" seen in so many other Disney rides. It just wasn't planned out very well, like others have said.

 

[lebeau]

This is like the 1,000th thread you have made about this. We get it. I agree with you, I don't like the fact that they recycle the animatronics, it looks cheap. But come on, there's really nothing we can do about it. Making duplicate threads just becomes annoying.

Kind of like duplicate turtles?

 

[lebeau]

You know what? When I see the same turtle or whatever in different places, I just think it's the same turtle who is following the story along and dancing. These turtles and fish are in multiple scenes because they have been moving from scene to scene the way the guests have been.

Kinda makes you wonder why they have more than one scene, doesn't it? Heck, why even move? One scene seems to be all that is really needed.